BANNERS HELD HIGH On-line Trade Union Festival 2021

 

    On-line Trade Union Festival 2021 Workshop

May 8th – 25th

 

The theme for this year's With Banners Held High trade union festival is THE PAST WE INHERIT, THE GREEN FUTURE WE BUILD

 

Many of the speakers and workshop facilitators are active in CACC TU. Please share these events far and wide - it's a good opportunity to involve far more trade unionists in discussions about just transition/climate jobs, and also to involve social movement environment campaigners who may not be trade union activists in discussions about the relevance and importance of trade unions and a worker-led transition.

 

The main event with a line-up of trade union speakers will be online on Saturday 15th May, 11am - 12.30pm, see here: https://www.facebook.com/events/457556441868873

 

The workshops, which would normally be held on the day, are to be held online spread throughout the month.  Participants must pre-register to join these meetings, so please check the With Banners Held High Facebook pages for links to each workshop and for further details   - see https://www.facebook.com/withbannersheldhigh  . 

 

Saturday 8 May, 11.00am-1.00pm Educating for the climate emergency
Schools and colleges play an essential role in the climate emergency educating the next generation and laying the foundations for our young people's career and life choices. In this workshop there will be a panel of four teachers, leading climate education in their schools and in wider networks of schools across the region.

Tuesday 11 May 7.00- 8.30pm Youth voice - speaking up for the planet 
Across the region young people have been calling for action on the climate. Greta Thunberg has spoken for the next generations. We need to do our homework, listen to the science and take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
In this workshop we will hear from a range of young people from right across the region who need us to listen. Their future is in our hands.

Wednesday 12 May 7.30-9.00pm One million climate jobs
Join this workshop to discuss the jobs that are needed to tackle the environmental crisis. Whether it's retrofitting homes or greener transport, we need urgent investment to tackle climate change. Suzanne Jeffery from the Campaign against Climate Change will speak about the new edition of One Million Climate Jobs, looking in detail at homes and transport and where investment and jobs are really needed.

Friday 14 May 7.00-8.30pm The right to protest - hosted by Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign
Join an exciting panel of speakers on this important issue:

·  Chair: Chris Peace: Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign activist

·  Shami Chakrabarti: Human rights activist, lawyer and Labour Peer

·  Kate Flannery: Secretary of the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign

·  Abdullah Okud: Co-founder of Sheffield Black Lives Matter

·  Declan Owens: Campaigning lawyer and joint chair of Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers

·  Rosa Tully: Socialist, feminist and climate justice activist

·  Music by Sam Browse, folk musician and political activist

Tuesday 18 May 7.30-9.00pm A just transition - what does it mean for you?
Join Unite's Andy Pearson for this workshop to find out what just transition means for you.

Wednesday 19 May 8.00-9.00pm Green ban: red union - winning our climate demands
From 1971-75, the BLF in Australia placed Green Bans (orders not to work) on sites of ecological, climate or conservation interest, to stop big developers riding roughshod over local communities.
Today, the CFMEU union is reviving green bans to defend communities and climate. Join our session to hear how they have overcome harsh anti-union laws to centre worker issues in the fight for climate justice.
Speakers:

·  Darren Greenfield, state secretary, CFMEU New South Wales

·  Historian of the Green Bans 1971-75

·  UK trade union speaker

Saturday 22 May 11.00am-1.00pm Future Energy Needs – is hydrogen the answer?
Hydrogen is being talked up by government as a centrepiece of a low carbon economy, not least as a replacement for natural gas in our homes. How realistic is this scenario, and what are the alternatives? We explore the potential and limitations of hydrogen technologies, with Simon Pirani, energy researcher and author of Burning Up: A Global History of Fossil Fuel Consumption and members of Leeds TUC's environment sub-committee.

Saturday 22 May 3.00-4.00pm Winning Better Buses for Yorkshire
We Own It host this workshop which will look at how public transport really could make that green future more than an ambition.

Tuesday 25 May 7.30pm-9.00pm Organising for the Climate Emergency - from the Workplace to COP26
We know that we need to organise to get businesses, employers and governments to act and our last workshop focuses on that. 
We have a fantastic line-up for this workshop: a GMB shop steward will describe how he has brought in workplace changes, Sarah Woolley, general secretary of the bakers union, BFAWU will describe how they have been making sustainability a strand throughout the union and with other unions. And Sam Mason, policy officer of PCS will show how it has been possible to use workers concern for the environment as a a key driver of change.
We will consider how in the year of COP26 we can organise to make trade union voices heard, from the workplace to intergovernmental panels as they  prepare to meet in Glasgow.

Solidarity Greetings
Organisers of With Banners Held High would welcome greetings from branches who would have attended with their banners.

Please send photos of your banners with a message and they will post on their Facebook page and may also include them in the online procession.

Email these by 8 May, but please send earlier if you can.

A few NUM banners will be available to see in person in the Burton Street windows of Wakefield MDC building, Wakefield One, from 7 May.